The Burke and Wills Expedition - Part 3 - Menindee

The Explorers Podcast

Matt Breen

Society & Culture, History, Education

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2020

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In part 3 of our series, the Victorian Exploring Expedition travels from Melbourne to the frontier outpost of Menindee on the Darling River. Along the way, the VEE will undergo a transformation as many key members will be fired (or resign), and others will join the company. Meanwhile, Robert Burke must dodge an arrest notice, criticism and his own ego to move the VEE forward. Map: https://explorerspodcast.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/map2-1.png People and Places Robert O’Hara Burke – Leader of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE) George Landells – Horse trader who brought 25 camels to Australia, and 2nd-in-command of the VEE. Fired upon reaching Menindee. William Wills – British surveyor and astronomer. Named 2nd-in-command of the expedition after the dismissal of George Landells. Victoria Exploring Expedition (VEE) – The official name of the expedition led by Robert Burke to cross the Australian continent. John McDouall Stuart – Scottish explorer who would be the chief competitor with the VEE to blaze a route across Australia. Hermann Beckler - German doctor and botanist. mega at Menindee, but stayed on. Ludwig Becker - German geologist and naturalist. William Wright - Bushman who would join Burke at Menindee as a guide. Georg von Neumayer - Professor and member of the Exploration Committee. John King - 22-year old ex-soldier. Came from India with camels. William Hodgkinson - Journalist who joined expedition at Swan Hill. Cooper’s Creek – River in central Australia. It is about halfway across the continent if someone is traveling between Melbourne and Gulf of Carpentaria in the north. About 750 miles from Melbourne. Menindee - Most northerly outpost on the route of the VEE in their trek across Australia. About 400 miles from Melbourne. Gulf of Carpentaria - The most direct route from Victoria to the northern coast of Australia - roughly a 1500 mile journey across the continent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to an the Explorers podcast. Today is part 3 in our series on Australia's
0:22.1	Birken Wheels Expedition.
0:24.7	Let's start with a quick reminder.
0:26.5	If you want to see a map of the expedition's route, you can find one on our website,
0:30.0	Explorers Podcast.com.
0:32.0	I have also put a link to a map in the show notes of the podcast. And speaking of the
0:36.5	show notes, remember I have added names of people and places in them so you can always reference
0:40.8	the list right on your phone if you get confused.
0:44.2	And just like that, reminders are done.
0:46.2	Let's roll.
0:48.0	Last time, the Victorian exploring expedition, the VEE, had departed from Melbourne on August 20th, 1860. More than 15,000 people had come out to see off the colony's new heroes.
0:58.0	However, the expedition ran into its share of issues even on the first day. The 20 tons of supplies and provisions meant that the wagons and
1:06.7	camels were overloaded. Two wagons would break down even before leaving the
1:10.8	city and another would get stuck in the mud. The expedition would
1:14.2	advantage just four miles on its first day. The plan of the expedition was to journey to
1:19.7	Men and D, the northernmost outpost in the area and then from there go to Cooper's Creek
1:24.3	about halfway across the continent. At that point the expedition's leader Robert Burke
1:29.1	would then be able to proceed in whatever way he deemed most prudent. But for now the VEE simply needed to get to
1:35.5	Men and D, a track of about four hundred sixty miles. The most difficult part for the expedition
1:41.4	was likely just getting into a routine.
1:44.2	People thrive on routine and an expedition like this even more so.
1:48.0	Unfortunately for the men of the VEE, they were still fumbling through the awkward phase of getting
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Matt Breen, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Matt Breen and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.